CHUCHO VALDÉS: IRAKERE 50

Fresh off the world premiere of his epic work La Creación at the Arsht Center in 2021, Cuban pianist and composer Chucho Valdés returns to commemorate 50 years of IRAKERE, the legendary Afro-Cuban jazz band he founded that changed the face of Latin music forever.

With its audacious mix of Afro-Cuban ritual music, Cuban dance music, jazz, classical music and rock, Irakere marked a before and after in Latin jazz. The group’s self-titled debut recording in the United States won a Grammy as Best Latin Recording in 1979. In 2015, Valdés celebrated Irakere’s 40th anniversary with a world tour. Tribute to Irakere: Live at Marciac, which captured a performance on that tour, won a Grammy for Best Latin Jazz Album in 2016.

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DAVE KOZ & FRIENDS

Featuring Jonathan Butler with special guests Rebecca Jade and Marcus Anderson
And introducing Justin Lee Schultz

Dave Koz and Friends announce the 26th anniversary of the longest-running jazz-based Christmas tour!

Beginning the next era of this rich musical tradition, Koz and Friends will perform fresh renditions of timeless Christmas classics — as well as a Hanukkah medley — and hits from their respective catalogs.

The tour reunites Koz with a longtime musical partner, guitarist-singer Jonathan Butler, and will feature special guests saxophonist/flutist Marcus Anderson, making his debut, and vocalist Rebecca Jade, marking her third time with the tour. Traversing 25 cities in one month, the tour will also introduce musical prodigy Justin Lee Schultz, a 16-year-old South Africa-born, U.S.-based pianist, guitarist, vocalist and social media sensation.

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HENRY MANCINI 100TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

Starring Monica Mancini with special guests John Pizzarelli, Shelly Berg, Gregg Field and Frost School of Music’s Henry Mancini Institute

From “Moon River” to “The Pink Panther Theme,” “Baby Elephant Walk” and “Days of Wine and Roses,” Henry Mancini composed some of the most beloved music of our time, while revolutionizing the art of film scoring.

The Frost School of Music’s Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra will be joined onstage by Henry’s daughter, two-time Grammy-nominated vocalist Monica Mancini, and eight-time Grammy winner Gregg Field, plus other surprise guest artists in a multimedia event to kick off the centenary celebration of Mancini’s birth.

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DC JAZZ FESTIVAL | THE WHARF

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Steve Masakowski was born on September 2, 1954 in New Orleans, Louisiana and The Beatles influenced his desire to play guitar. When he was fourteen, he played bass guitar and co-founded the band Truth, which was based on the rock band Cream. During his high school years he became interested in composing, and started taking guitar lessons to learn about harmony. His teacher introduced him to the music of jazz guitarists Joe Pass, Wes Montgomery, Pat Martino, and Lenny Breau.

He went to Berklee College of Music in 1974, studied music theory, arranging, and composition. Returning home with his girlfriend Emily Remler after getting his degree, Steve founded the group Fourplay, not to be confused with the later jazz group of the same name. From 1976 to 1978, he studied classical composition and orchestration at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts with Bert Braud.

The early Eighties he played regularly with local New Orleans musicians such as Willie Tee, Earl Turbinton, Jr. and Alvin Tyler, as well as accompanying visiting musicians Randy Brecker, Tom Harrell, Art Baron, and Dave Liebman. His next band Mars played a mix of jazz and electronic music. He then went on to  found the Composers Recording Studio with harpist Patrice Fisher, guitarist Jimmy Robinson, and violinist Denise Villere. After a ten year stretch the studio closed and he started working in duet with Ellis Marsalis Jr., then joined Astral Project, toured with Dianne Reeves. He leads the band Nova NOLA.

As an educator in 1991, he became a full-time faculty member at the University of New Orleans and became Chair of Jazz Studies and director of the jazz program in 2004 . He invented the key-tar, a guitar-like instrument with seven rows of keys instead of strings, one key at each fret. This pre-MIDI controller was hardwired to a Moog synthesizer.

Inspired by a visit to New Orleans by seven-string guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli, he began to explore the seven-string guitar, first finding an early Gretsch, then designing his own models which have the expanded range of a normal guitar and bass guitar combined. Guitarist and educator Steve Masakowski continues to perform, record and educate.

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